


[Second Citadel Drabbles]

by AetherAria



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: (is it pining if they've known each other for the duration of a knife fight? sure!), Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fill, Second Citadel (Penumbra Podcast), canon typical Arum ignoring feelings, i'm gonna stop tagging for individual fics in this beyond character and ship tags lmao, literally actually a heckin DRABBLE this time hell yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2020-04-06 00:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19051354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherAria/pseuds/AetherAria
Summary: A set of unrelated drabbles, inspired by two different prompt sets, most rad bouquet with a smattering of mangelo later on.





	1. No Time With The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Initially I was just gonna post the ONE drabble, and then another one happened, and I'm working on a third, so... yeah. Easier to do this than to post individually for a bunch of drabbles. <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snippet from Arum's perspective, from right at the end of Knight of the Crown, Lord of the Swamp, part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by an anon, for the song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, and so of course the title is also from the song. ;3c

Arum pauses, out of sight beneath the Queen’s balcony, and above him Sir Damien murmurs his name. His name- not _friend lizard_ or _beast_ or _demon_ , and Arum, bleeding, muscles strained from the climb and the fight, is tempted to climb again and-

Do what?

Something mad. The temptation is mad and so would the result be. He wants to pounce, to feel the knight’s heart beating, to close his claws around his throat and-

Hear Damien say his name again.

Ridiculous. He slithers down, forcing his mind towards tomorrow’s duel, and away from flowers carried on a honeyed tongue.


	2. Still and Discreet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a small, soft moment between the three of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the song In A Week by Hozier, prompted by tumblr user shorter-than-her-tbr-pile.

With their arms around him, Damien’s mind is still. No dread, no words, not even a rhyming couplet intrudes on their embrace. Not while the rise and fall of Arum’s chest beneath his cheek guides his own breath, not while Rilla curls behind him, whispering softness at the nape of his neck.

The world is unsafe. He and his lovers lead dangerous lives. They are, all of them, fallible, and there are ten thousand causes for Damien to fear.

But Rilla’s thumb brushes his hip, Arum sighs soft above his head, and Damien is more tranquil than the stillest sea.


	3. The Knowledge You Hold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Arum-perspective snippet from The Spiral Sage, starting the exact moment he recognizes Rilla in the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by arin-demonicduckofsomesort on tumblr, for the song Eminemium (Choose Yourself) by A Capella Science. Title, again, from the lyrics of the song.

While prototyping the fear monster, Arum sampled its effects. Now, as he recognizes Amaryllis through her questionable disguise, he is convinced that it is reaching out, curling antennae around him and  _squeezing_. Amaryllis,  _here_ , among monsters and in such vivid danger-

He feels awake for the first time since she left. Awake, and  _terrified_ , his helplessness thawing into desperation because even if she goes undiscovered, his creation will annihilate her entire species within days.

Unless Amaryllis stops it. Unless he can explain. 

Arum takes a breath, and over the heads of assembled monsterkind, he gives his apology, concealed in confession.


	4. Retrospect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even a lizard can have regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another song drabble, prompted by an anon on tumblr for the song Don't Deserve You by Plumb. <3

Arum is not one for regret. The past cannot be changed; it is a worthless endeavor to pretend otherwise.

That doesn’t mean he never succumbs to the temptation, though. They were at war - are _still_ at war - and Arum played his part by creating reprehensible things. Unforgivable things.

But Amaryllis laughs, and kisses the tip of his nose. Damien smiles, and gifts Arum a sliver of his heart with every line of verse.

Arum clings to that. He digs his claws in, and _holds_ , and hopes against hope his blooms will continue to believe he is worth holding in return.


	5. Such A Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Arum-perspective, established relationship snippet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a song prompt this time! @shorter-than-her-tbr-pile on tumblr prompted me from an askmeme of untranslatable words for "aspectabund - letting emotion show easily through the face or eyes." Sorry this took so long, especially considering how short it is!! <3

Humans are, generally speaking, difficult for Arum to read.

They have a terrifying tendency to show happiness by baring teeth, which Arum struggles to read as anything but a threat. They have no frill with which to indicate indignation, pride, or fear, no tail with which to threaten. Their posturing is entirely stilted, and strange.

Damien, though.

Arum understands Sir Damien’s feelings perfectly. He does not merely wear his heart, he is _lit up_ with it, and Arum is near blinded by every look. And, undeniably, what lights Damien up each time he meets Arum’s eyes is love, love, _love._


	6. "Please tell me it's going to be okay."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something goes wrong. Things are not dire, but Marc still wants just a little bit of comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by bluerayofsunshine on tumblr from a new set of dialogue drabble prompts, for mangelo. My first mangelo drabble! hell yeah hell yeah.

Talfryn will be _fine_. Rilla is upfront about that; dislocations are, apparently, uncomplicated.

Regardless, Marc looks nearly ill himself, now that they’re closed outside the hut so Rilla can work, sitting on her front steps.

“Would it help…” Angelo hesitates. “May I hold you?”

Marc grabs Angelo, thuds his forehead on his shoulder with his jaw clenched tight. Angelo wraps his arms around Marc, gentle, and Marc mutters, “Just- tell me it’s gonna be okay, big guy.”

Angelo’s heart thuds, and when he opens his mouth, he smiles. If Marc is lacking optimism- well, Angelo always has plenty to spare.


	7. "Is that my shirt?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arum forgot to clean one or two things up before Damien came home from his latest quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by shorter-than-her-tbr-pile on tumblr for the prompt, "Is that my shirt?" Thank you hon! Hope you enjoy!!!

“Is… is that _my_ shirt, Lord Arum?”

Arum smacks the offending fabric away, his frill flaring panic high. “D-don’t be ridiculous.”

Damien smiles, baffled. “Whyever was my shirt on your bed in my absence?”

“It.” Arum snaps his jaw shut tight. “It wasn’t.”

Damien stares. Arum stares back. Both neglect to acknowledge the blatant lie.

“He stole it from the hut when he thought I wasn’t looking,” Rilla calls, distantly amused.

Arum sags, growling, and Damien helplessly pulls the lizard into an embrace, because-

“It’s good to know you missed me, my love… just as much as I missed _you_.”


	8. "I'll Walk You Home"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment from early in Damien and Rilla's courtship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by an anonymous tumblr user for the sentence, "I'll walk you home." cuuuuuuuuuute

“May I walk you home?”

He doesn’t need to; Rilla has walked to and from the Citadel enough times that she could do it blindfolded. Judging by the blush staining Damien’s cheeks, the tension in his frame, he’s hoping pretty hard that she won’t call him on that.

Rilla lets her eyes slide down the knight and then back up, grinning when that makes him blush even harder, and then she lifts her arm for him to take.

“I suppose I could let you join me,” she says slyly, “but only if you tell me another story while we walk.”


	9. Cape - Damien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got an ask from tumblr user daisybrien about the cape and comfort and i went instantly feral in three parts. Here's part one.

Damien is pacing, panting, _panicking_ , a fountain of words and terror. Arum reaches, just enough to slow him with two hands at his waist as the other two drape the thick fabric around his shoulders. He swims in the folds, deep purple covering him down to his toes, and his breaths are already slowing, his heart already settling into a softer beat even before Arum adds himself to the embrace, pulling Damien close against his chest. It is only fabric, but Damien feels it as a shield, and he knows that there is nowhere he could ever be more safe.


	10. Cape - Rilla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two.

Rilla works late again. She ignores sleep waiting at her heel, ignores the tremble of her hands, ignores the heat at the corners of her eyes at each vicious unconquered yawn. Her mind is too fuzzy from the battle, and she does not hear the lizard approach until the cloth settles around her shoulders, so heavy and so terribly soft, and the fight is already over before she is even aware enough to attempt to rally. She is already asleep, cheek cushioned in plush violet, as Arum scoops her purple swathed form into his arms to carry off to bed.


	11. Cape - Arum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And part three.

Arum hisses and snarls and spits, and this response is unreasonable but he cannot _stand_ it, how these creatures spy his every vulnerability. They slip past each defense; all that remains is the snarling. Amaryllis reaches up and he cringes, but she will not flinch, will not be dissuaded. Her fingers find his shoulders, find the fabric rippling behind him, and pull it forward to cover his arms, his chest. She holds the cape closed, and his anger suffocates at her smile.

They see his vulnerabilities, perhaps, but they will hold them safe in purple dark, and in their love.

 


End file.
